(WACO, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Welding Technology program has completed an expansion just in time for the start of the fall semester on Aug. 31.
Forty spacious welding booths have been built in an area once used by the Precision Machining Technology program. The welding area will be used by classes and also students pursuing an Occupational Skills Award, a new three-course plan that can be completed in one semester.
“We have more room in each booth and newer machines capable of all the welding processes,” said Carl Wilmeth, lead instructor in TSTC’s Welding Technology program. “You do not have to move around as much having to go to different sections. It makes it more economical for us timewise.”
Fourteen grinding booths have been added in a small extension built at the Industrial Technology Center on campus.
“We needed it because in the grinding area, since we added welding booths, we needed extra room for the material that we are grinding so we would not get sparks on the welding machine or inside it,” Wilmeth said.
Matthew Alarcon, a Welding Technology student from Italy in Ellis County, said he liked the new additions when he saw them on Thursday. He particularly liked the new lockers and the ventilation system for booths. And, he is eager to start the fall semester so he can take classes in metallurgy and automation.
The program will continue using a hybrid teaching format for the 2020-21 academic year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lectures and tests will be conducted online, and hands-on labs will be done at the Industrial Technology Center. Students must wear face coverings, maintain separation, sanitize their on-campus work areas and wash their hands.
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.
